A Spartan's Mission
by Emberstar
Summary: The Master Chief on a mission to retrieve a device held by the Covenant.


A Spartan's Mission

The Master Chief surveyed his surroundings. The barren plane before him was dotted with pine and oak trees. Pure white flecks of snow were beginning their slow decent to the coat the harsh and dry surface of Halo. The Master Chief's sharp ears detected a steady wet dripping sound.

Turning his head down, the Master Chief caught sight of his gauntlet, wet with blood. As he watched a trickle of blood collected at the corner of the gauntlet, formed a red droplet and fell slowly to the ground. _Drip_. A sound of blood against earth. The Master Chief shuddered.

He turned his gaze away from his hand and to a dead form lying at his feet. The Elite had once worn a glistening blue armor, but years of combat had left the metal plates of the armor dented and scarred. A large hole was punched through the Elite's chest and blood was pooling around the corpse.

Peering into the visor of the Elite's helmet, the Master Chief saw himself mirrored there. With the golden visor and the olive-colored armor he made a formidable figure. Kneeling down, he retrieved the fallen Elite's weapon-a plasma rifle and pocketed a few plasma grenades. Checking the charge of the rifle, he trudged off onto the plane.

After walking a few miles, he detected enemy activity on his HUD. Immediately he darted to the nearest cover- a scatter of boulders. Peering cautiously ahead to avid detection, his genetically enhanced eyes caught the movements of Covenant. A veteran Elite, clad in a scarlet armor was bust ordering a pack of Grunts in loading a Covenant Dropship. A pair of Hunters patrolled the area.

The Master Chief uttered a curse. The Covenant were past his shooting range and the Hunters will prove to be a major problem. His soldier eyes scanned the area and spotted an advantage. Docked a few meters away from the Covenant were three Banshees. If he was fast enough, he _might_ make it. Taking a deep breath, the Master Chief sprang out from his cover.

He was greeted by a startled growl from the Elite and a hose of bullets. Ignoring the bullets that miss him by inches, the Master Chief sprinted to the Banshees. The translator devise in his head caught the words of the Elite.

"_He's heading towards the Banshees, stop him!" _

A Grunt leapt in his was, an overcharged plasma pistol in its claw. The Master Chief caved the unfortunate creature's skull in with the butt of his rifle.

An overcharged plasma bolt knocked the Master Chief forward. The Hunters were after him. He tasted blood and copper but he did not break a stride. Reaching the Banshees, he headed to the nearest one. Opening the hatch, he climbed in and worked the vehicle deftly until it rose and started climbing the sky.

Gripping the controls in both hands, the Master Chief expertly guided the Banshee in a smooth arc and set his target on the Hunters. He aimed for the first pair of Hunter and thumbed the button of the Plasma Cannon. Immediately, the Hunter vanished in a ball of boiling green flame. He hosed the Grunts down with plasma bolts as they scattered desperately.

He checked the Plasma Cannon and found it to be fully charged. Bearing down on the last remaining Hunter, he directed the next plasma missile to it. The Hunter clutched at its torso as it fell in a pool of gore. Smiling, the Master Chief resumed his climb with the Banshee.

Through the haze of snow that was rapidly thickening, the Master Chief saw a faint green light up ahead-his destination. Accelerating the Banshee, he readied his thumbs on the controls. He zoomed the Banshee past the ramp and an Elite growled a challenge at him. The Master Chief was in the process of turning the Banshee around when the shield level of the Banshee collapsed.

The Master Chief cursed as he felt something hot searing at his boot. It was only the enhancement of the MJOLINDR armor that saved him from being burned by a plasma bolt. The Banshee was loosing altitude rapidly. The Master Chief leapt out of the hatch and landed hard on the overhanging of rocks above the ramp.

As he watched, the Banshee caught fire and crashed into the Elite that sadly had poor reflexes. The Banshee exploded dramatically and consumed a Hunter in the process. Climbing down the overhanging carefully, the Master Chief leapt down and rolled to his feet. A door behind him hissed open and the Chief found him face to face with the fallen Hunter's bond brother.

The fuel rod cannon attached to the Hunter's arm glowed with overcharged plasma. The Hunter took one look at its dead brother and lunged at the Chief with a howl of fury and grief. The Master Chief dodged nimbly out of the way and fired three bolts of plasma into the Hunter's side. The plasma bolts only made the enraged creature madder and it sighted the Chief down with its fuel rod and fired the bolt.

The Chief stepped to the side but didn't realize that he was at the edge of the ramp. His leg slipped of the slippery surface of the ramp and ha grabbed at the edge of the railing to stop him from falling to his death. His looked down and almost wish he did not. The ground was a long way down.

The Chief recalled the time he and his fellow Spartans did a high-altitude jump. They survived with just a few bruises. However, jumping from _this_ height will pulverize his bone. The Chief fumbled in his ammo belt and his hand grasped a plasma grenade. Without wasting a moment, he hurled the grenade at the Hunter. The grenade attached itself to the side of the Hunter and blew the beast apart.

Swinging his legs, the Chief latched a foot of the ramp and hauled himself up and observed the wreckage. He swapped his drained plasma rifle for a plasma pistol. Pocketing the plasma pistol, he drew his assault rifle and slid a magazine into the empty slot. Reassured by the small 'click', the Chief stepped towards the doors.

The doors slid open and he stepped into a vast corridor. His boots echoes in the empty corridor.

"This can't be so easy." The Chief muttered to himself.

A door slid open and the Covenant boiled into the clearing. The Chief fired at an Elite and the warrior collapsed with a howl. He spun around on his hell and back handed the last grenade at a pack of Grunts and watch with satisfaction as the blast tore them apart.

A bolt struck his back and he duck low and turned to face his assailant-a Jackal. The Master Chief fired a burst at the Jackal's shield until it collapsed. With its shield dead, the Jackal turned tail and the Chief finished it off with a shot to its head.

He quickened his pace and linked up to Foehammer through his HUD.

"I need you to dock outside the structure to pick me up as soon as I exit the structure."

"Roger that, Chief. Good luck."

The Chief reached another door which was sealed. He approached the control panel and thumbed it. He always had a magical touch.

The doors heavily slid apart. He walked cautiously across the ramp and saw a suspending device. He approached it even more cautiously. The device had a slick, silvery surface. Whatever it was, the Chief was assigned to retrieve it. He adjusted the thickness of his glove and reached out to grasp the device.

He tensed expecting all hell to break lose. Nothing happened. The Chief linked up to his HUD.

"I've got the device, get ready to pick me up." He immediately killed the line without waiting for a response and sprinted as fast as he could across the corridor. That's was when the Covenant decided to attack.

The Chief sprinted on and knocked an Elite out of his way, breaking the warrior's spine. Gunning down a Grunt, he reached the doors. Without breaking stride, he hurled himself into the open hatch of the Pelican. The Pelican started to move away from the ramp when the Covenant boiled in through the door. A foolish Grunt attempted to leap into the hatch.

The Master Chief yank of the alien's breathing device and kicked the Grunt out of the Pelican. The Pelican begin its journey back to ODST head quarters. The Chief strapped into his seat and removed his helmet and gauntlet. He ran his hands through his hair. His hand came away slick with blood.

The Chief leaned back and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt something cold on his hand. He looked down and saw a single perfectly formed snow flake on his hand. He observed it until it melted. With a smile, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.


End file.
